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mjacquart.bsky.social
Melissa Jacquart
@mjacquart.bsky.social
1.9K followers 280 following 36 posts
Assistant Prof @UCincinnati | Philosopher of Science & Astrophysics | Role of Philosophy in SciEd. | Philosophy Pedagogy & SoTL | she/her
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mjacquart.bsky.social
Melissa Jacquart @mjacquart.bsky.social · Jan 28
Very excited to share that @apotochnik.bsky.social and my element on Public Engagement with Science is out (+ open-access)) I'm really proud of this work of ours. It puts in writing much of the work + thinking done over the last several years @ucpews.bsky.social... www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Public Engagement with Science
Cambridge Core - Life Science Professional Development - Public Engagement with Science
www.cambridge.org
mjacquart.bsky.social
A great thread for those thinking of philosophy grad school to consider applying to UC!
ucphilosophy.bsky.social University of Cincinnati, Department of Philosophy @ucphilosophy.bsky.social · 6d
The PhD program in philosophy at the University of Cincinnati is excited to invite new applications for the 2026-2027 academic year, please share!
🧵 (1/9)
November 7, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
ucphilosophy.bsky.social
Interested in studying philosophy at UC? Check out Melissa Jacquart's (@mjacquart.bsky.social) interview about her work and philosophy at @uofcincy!
#philsky
Full video:
Melissa Jacquart, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati
Meet Melissa Jacquart, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati, in our video series to get to know our Philosophy Department!
youtu.be
November 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
apaphilosophy.bsky.social
APA members @mjacquart.bsky.social and Thomas Polger's course on Taylor Swift and Philosophy challenges students to explore the deeper meanings behind the singer's lyrics and public persona as well as broader questions about love, identity, and ethics. www.uc.edu/news/article...
Swiftie in school
UC’s Taylor Swift class gained attention on Oct. 2, when Local 12 reporter Chelsea Sick visited campus to cover the course the day before the release of Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl.
www.uc.edu
October 21, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
seanmcarroll.bsky.social
Physicists will spend $10 billion on a particle accelerator to understand why there is an "unnatural" hierarchy between the Planck scale and the weak scale, then insist that philosophy has no role and we should shut up and calculate.
seanmcarroll.bsky.social Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · Sep 2
Today in #PhilosophyOfCosmology we talked about fine-tuning and naturalness, and introduced inflation and eternal inflation.

So many juicy philosophical questions that physicists don't take as seriously as they should! What does it mean for parameters/initial conditions to be "unnatural," anyway?
September 2, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
ucphilosophy.bsky.social
Professor Melissa Jacquart (@mjacquart.bsky.social) was the keynote speaker this summer at The Hamilton College Summer Program in Philosophy (HCSPiP) Conference in Pedagogical Innovation!

academics.hamilton.e...
August 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
hanner.bsky.social
Seeking science journalists: @quantamagazine.bsky.social is hiring a physics editor!

A rare opportunity to join this great team and lead coverage of this foundational vertical. Please reach out with any questions and share widely

simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/simons...
Physics Editor, Quanta Magazine
POSITION SUMMARY Quanta is seeking an editor to contribute to the magazine’s award-winning physics coverage. This editor will be tasked with finding the most exciting developments in the world of the ...
simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
August 20, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
ucpews.bsky.social
PEWS is highlighting UC student opportunities for 2025–2026 - from internships to communication training, all designed to connect STEM with the broader community.

🔗 ucengagingscience.org/2025/08/18/uc-student-opportunities-2025-2026/

#UCincy #UCPEWS #STEMEducation #CommunityEngagement
UC Student Opportunities 2025-2026
UC graduate and undergraduate students are invited to get involved with the Center for Public Engagement with Science (PEWS) this year by applying for a paid internship, registering for the Sharing…
ucengagingscience.org
August 20, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
shobitap.org
Did you know Bluesky's founder has an #STS degree? In a new article, Erin Burkett and I explain why, despite current threats to humanities and social science, "STEM-in-Society programs" like STS are more important than ever. And we guide funders and university leaders how to better support them.
STEM-in-Society Programs Deserve Institutional Support
STEM-in-society programs have proven their utility and have never been more needed—but they are in jeopardy nationwide.
issues.org
August 20, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
astrokatie.com
Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.
ericmgarcia.bsky.social Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · Aug 5
Release from HHS: HHS will wind down its development of the mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
HHS Winds Down mRNA Vaccine Development Under BARDA WASHINGTON, DC—AUGUST 5, 2025—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the beginning of a coordinated wind-down of its mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), including the cancellation and de-scoping of various contracts and solicitations. The decision follows a comprehensive review of mRNA-related investments initiated during the COVID-19 public health emergency. “We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”
August 5, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
bfishbfish.bsky.social
I believe one of the new mRNA vaccines was expected to treat colon cancer, and another had the potential to keep pancreatic cancer from recurring. That’s what they’re taking away.
August 6, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
apaphilosophy.bsky.social
APA member @mjacquart.bsky.social of the University of Cincinnati is quoted in an @undark.org article on new dark energy findings. www.uc.edu/news/article...
Shifting Forces: The evolving debate around dark energy
In an article in Undark Magazine, a new device has the scientific community questioning whether established theories on dark energy are still valid. Science philosopher Melissa Jaquart weighs in on…
www.uc.edu
July 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
padilla.senate.gov
🗣️REMINDER: Trump and Republicans are still trying to pass their 3 TRILLION dollar spending bill that would kick 16 million people off of their health insurance and literally take lunches away from school children. 
 
We can’t let them get away with it.
June 17, 2025 at 2:26 AM
mjacquart.bsky.social
Last Call! Philosophers consider submitting to this @theaapt.bsky.social Studies in Pedagogy Special Issue on Teaching Graduate Students. This special issue is one of (if not the?) first big efforts to think more intentionally about how we as a discipline teach our graduate students ... (1/3)
Calls for Abstracts and Essays
Current Calls: Volume 11CALL FOR PAPERSAre We Having Fun Yet?Joy and Playfulness in Teaching & Learning Philosophy Edited ByRebecca Scott Paper Submission Deadline: Monday, January 13, 20...
aaptstudies.org
May 8, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
jelliedsours.bsky.social
We have another great post on the #projectEPIC blog today from @apotochnik.bsky.social that summarises her fantastic new Element co-authored with @mjacquart.bsky.social on public engagement and science: epistemicinjusticeinhealthcareproject.blogspot.com/2025/03/what...

#science #philsky
What is Public Engagement with Science?
epistemicinjusticeinhealthcareproject.blogspot.com
March 12, 2025 at 10:26 AM
mjacquart.bsky.social
“We are DEI” Go undergrads go! #NoSB1
February 25, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
carlbergstrom.com
Any talk you hear from the current administration about making the US more competitive in science and technology is utter bullshit. What they are doing is sabotaging our country for years if not decades to come.
February 22, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
profgalloway.com
February 22, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
georgetakei.bsky.social
He nails it.
February 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
aoc.bsky.social
It may not be cool or hip in some circles, but we legitimately do need a massive amount of people to run for office.

Flood the school boards, councils, county seats, state legislatures, Congress, etc.

Big changes at the top happen when the ground shifts at the bottom. And that can start now.
February 22, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
lethalityjane.bsky.social
The measles outbreak in Texas is reminding me of the public letter Roald Dahl wrote about losing his daughter to measles in 1962, just before the vaccine was publicly available.
Excerpt from a public letter Roald Dahl wrote encouraging people to vaccinate their children. Olivia, my eldest daughter, caught measles when she was seven years old. As the illness took its usual course I can remember reading to her often in bed and not feeling particularly alarmed about it. Then one morning, when she was well on the road to recovery, I was sitting on her bed showing her how to fashion little animals out of coloured pipe-cleaners, and when it came to her turn to make one herself, I noticed that her fingers and her mind were not working together and she couldn’t do anything. “Are you feeling all right?” I asked her. “I feel all sleepy,” she said. In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead. The measles had turned into a terrible thing called measles encephalitis and there was nothing the doctors could do to save her. That was twenty-four years ago in 1962, but even now, if a child with measles happens to develop the same deadly reaction from measles as Olivia did, there would still be nothing the doctors could do to help her. On the other hand, there is today something that parents can do to make sure that this sort of tragedy does not happen to a child of theirs. They can insist that their child is immunized against measles. I was unable to do that for Olivia in 1962 because in those days a reliable measles vaccine had not been discovered. Today a good and safe vaccine is available to every family and all you have to do is to ask your doctor to administer it.
February 15, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
williamthomas.bsky.social
The American Institute of Physics is looking for an associate director who will lead our new policy research and analysis function, which is within my portfolio. We will be busy. americaninstituteofphysics.applicantstack.com/x/openings
February 14, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
hps-aaas.bsky.social
@hanneand.bsky.social kicking off Historical & Philosophical Literacy As Core Elements of Scientific Proficiency session at #AAASmtg #HPS on how to retool our courses in history & philosophy of science for aspiring scientists & how HPS courses are part of required science curriculum in Denmark.
Hanne giving tLm with slide text "Teaching history and philosophy of science Reflections on literacy and proficiency • Traditional introductory courses in history and philosophy of science (HPS) • Structured as introduction to history and philosophy of science as academic disciplines, often focussed on key concepts, positions and theories, how they differ, and how they have developed as seen from within these disciplines • Goal to intrigue and attract students and to prepare them for futher studies in HPS • Proficiency in history and philosophy of science • Courses in history and philosophy of science for aspiring scientists • Structured instead around challenges that scientists commonly face and which call historical and/or philosophical reflection • Goal to be enable students in their future careers as scientists to critically their own practices, and to engage in conversations with policy makers as general public on the role of science and scientific knowledge Hanne Ven diagram slide
February 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
hps-aaas.bsky.social
Third talk in Historical & Philosophical Literacy As Core Elements of Scientific Proficiency session at #AAASmtg #HPS is @williamthomas.bsky.social on importance of researching, teaching documenting, & preserving (!) recent history of efforts to diversify the sciences.
Will & slide text "A Half-Century of Efforts to Diversify the Physical Sciences Journalist declares 'one-man war against critical race il halog an tnd the United States wal be the global leader in STEA VISION theory' after nuke lab holds white privilege training This is really racism masquerading as anti-racism' Baild Streng Foundations for STEM Literac By Victor Garca FeuNirm Increase Diversity, Equiry, and Inclusion in STEM О aAn 12. 3020 11 58am EDT Updated August 17, 2029 7.57pm €0 Prepare the STEM Workforce for the Future 00000 ADVANCING AMERICA'S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HIGHLIGHTS: 2017-2020 plan's vision and goals. NUCLEAR LAB EXECS SENT TO "WHITE PRIVILEGE" CAMP
February 14, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
hps-aaas.bsky.social
Great reflections by @historyscience.bsky.social Pres. Evelynn Hammonds @ #HPS session @ #AAASmtg on history of HPS in science efforts; how build trust in science every step of process & need for critical reflection along way; current complicated media world & how HPS needs to engage more w/ media
HSS President Evelynn Hammonds at podium
February 14, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Melissa Jacquart
hps-aaas.bsky.social
Great turn out at the "The Value of History & Philosophy of Science for a Strong Scientific Ecosystem" session at #AAASmtg #HPS
Jane Maienschien asking a question to panel Audience at AAAS
February 14, 2025 at 5:22 PM